Mahendra Kapoor (English: Mahendra Kapoor, born- January 9, 1934, Punjab; died- September 27, 2008, Mumbai) is an Indian singer whose songs are still on people’s lips. The versatile Mahendra Kapoor, who mesmerized many generations with his songs, was one of the leading figures of the golden era of Hindi film music and whenever patriotic songs are mentioned, his name is the first that comes to people’s minds.
The patriotic songs sung by him have the unique ability to fill people with the feeling of doing something for the country. Mahendra Kapoor became synonymous with patriotic songs with songs like ‘Mere Desh Ki Dharti Sona Ugale…’, ‘Bharat Ka Rahen Wala Hoon…’, ‘Abke Baras Tujhe Dharti Ki…’, in his four decade long career. Sung about 25 thousand songs in his film journey. His talent was not limited to Hindi only, but he also gave voice to songs in regional languages like Punjabi, Marathi, Bhojpuri etc.
Mahendra Kapoor was born on January 9, 1934 in Amritsar (Punjab). He soon moved from Amritsar to Mumbai to pursue a career in the field of singing. Since childhood, Mahendra Kapoor was greatly influenced by the great singer Mohammed Rafi. In a way, he was a disciple of Mohammed Rafi and had immense respect for him. Perhaps this is the reason why many times Rafi’s influence is clearly visible in his songs, especially in his early songs. His heartfelt desire was to sing in Hindi films. Initially Mahendra Kapoor received training in classical music. He received classical singing and music education from Pandit Husnlal, Pandit Jagannath Bua, Ustad Niaz
The major turning point in his life came when he won the ‘Metro Murphy All India Singing Competition’. The judge of this competition held in 1957 was musician Naushad Ali, who recorded the song ‘Chand Chupa Aur Taare Dubey’ from the film ‘Sohni Mahiwal’ in the voice of Mahendra Kapoor. After this he got a chance to sing in V. Shantaram’s film ‘Navrang’. In this film he sang the song “Aadha Hai Chandrama Raat Aadhi”, which was successful. This song, composed by C. Ramchandra, firmly established Mahendra Kapoor’s foot in the film industry. After this he worked with Manoj Kumar, popularly known as ‘Bharat Kumar’ and B. R. He also gave voice for the songs of most of the films made under the banner of Chopra. At one time Mahendra Kapoor’s voice was called ‘the living voice of India’. His name was the first to come to mind when patriotic songs came to mind, but the songs ‘Chalo Ek Baar Phir Se’ and ‘Kisi Patthar Ki Murat Se’ showcase the diversity in his songs. Apart from this, he was the first Indian singer to record an English song. Not only this, Mahendra Kapoor sang more than 25,000 songs in almost all languages.
Mahendra Kapoor, who always promised to sing great songs, continued to fascinate music lovers with his voice for the next several decades. When he made his debut in the film industry, it was the golden era of Hindi film music and many big names like Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar and Talat Mehmood were already established among playback singers. In such a situation, it was not easy to pave the way for new talent. It was a tough challenge, but Kapoor, who was determined and full of ‘purusharth’, not only created his own identity but also gave new dimensions to the diversity of playback singing. Mahendra Kapoor is survived by his wife, three daughters and a son, Rohan Kapoor. His son also worked in Hindi films ‘Faasle’ and ‘Love86’, but he could not succeed.
Producer-Director B. R. Mahendra Kapoor’s songs sung in Chopra’s films ‘Dhool Ka Phool’, ‘Gumrah’, ‘Waqt’, ‘Humraaj’ and ‘Dhundh’ etc. became very popular. Her pairing with Manoj Kumar, who made his mark in patriotic films, was similar to what Mukesh had paired with Raj Kapoor. She did playback singing for Manoj Kumar in many films, including ‘Upkaar’, ‘Purab Aur Paschim’, ‘Kranti’, ‘Roti Kapda Aur Makaan’ etc. Apart from ‘Bharat Kumar’ aka ‘Manoj Kumar’, he also did playback singing for actors like Dilip Kumar, Rajkumar, Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Dharmendra, Vishwajeet and Raj Babbar etc. B. R. He also collaborated with Chopra in the TV serial ‘Mahabharat’. Mahendra Kapoor had given voice to the title song of the serial Mahabharata. From the very beginning of the serial, Shlokas etc. decorated in the voice of Mahendra Kapoor have been captivating the viewers on TV. Was very successful in keeping him tied in front of.
Mahendra Kapoor received many awards in his long career. In 1968, Mahendra Kapoor received the ‘National Film Award’ for the song “Mere Desh Ki Dharti Sona Ugle” from the film ‘Upkaar’. Apart from this, he was also honored with ‘Filmfare Award’ in 1964, 1968 and 1975. Apart from this, the Government of Maharashtra also honored her with ‘Lata Mangeshkar Award’. He did many charity shows in the country and abroad. Along with Sunil Dutt and Nargis, he gave programs for the army personnel deployed on the border. The Government of India honored this singer by awarding him the highest civilian honor ‘Padmashree’.
Mahendra Kapoor died of a heart attack on September 27, 2008 at the age of 74, but even today his evergreen songs add sweetness to the ears. Even though Mahendra Kapoor is no longer among us today, he has left behind a legacy where the magic of his voice will always remain.
